Acute and chronic changes in swallowing and quality of life following intraarterial chemoradiation for organ preservation in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
BACKGROUND
Health-related quality of life (QOL) provides a measure of the patient's perception of his life after treatment. This study was undertaken to assess changes in QOL and swallowing in patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CR) for head and neck cancer. The assessment tools consisted of the Head and Neck Radiotherapy Questionnaire (HNRQ) and a swallowing questionnaire (SQ).


METHODS
The HNRQ and SQ were administered to a group of CR patients prior to treatment (n = 58), after the last week of treatment (n = 37), and 6 months after treatment (n = 27). Weight change was monitored in treatment subjects.


RESULTS
The results indicate that QOL and swallowing function decrease acutely during CR (p < .05) but improvement begins shortly after the treatment-related decline. At 6 months after CR, mean QOL exceeds pretreatment level. The oropharynx patients have the poorest outcome when compared with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal patients. A stronger correlation exists between swallowing and QOL at 6 months post-CR than during treatment (R = .52 versus R = .30).


CONCLUSIONS
Quality of life and swallowing are compromised in advanced head and neck cancer patients prior to treatment. There was a further decrease in QOL and swallow function during CR. Organ-preservation programs in head and neck cancer result in improved QOL and swallowing 6 months after treatment. The degree of improvement is site-specific.
Murry
T
T
Department of Otolaryngology The Eye & Ear Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
Madasu
R
R
Martin
A
A
Robbins
K T
KT
D000208:Acute Disease; D000931:Antidotes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003679:Deglutition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009926:Organ Preservation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013885:Thiosulfates / Q000008:administration & dosage
D000931:Antidotes; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D013885:Thiosulfates; C017717:sodium thiosulfate; D002945:Cisplatin